Team Darigan Citadel

Layton Vickles, captain of Team Darigan Citadel, raises the trophy in Altador Cup II.

Darigan Citadel's Yooyuball team have few major weaknesses, although they have been criticized in the past for playing too easy a schedule during the regular season, and as a result are unprepared when the tournament comes. To fix this, Darigan Citadel relented and added more matches against a few of the better teams for the 2006 season. Due to this they didn't finish as high in the standings as they normally did, but it gave them the toughness to play in the games which mattered the most (or at least this is what the fans hoped). Their tactic paid off, and they managed to place 2nd in the Altador Cup, ending their reputation as post-season underachievers.

Rather than rest, however, the Citadel's team made an upgrade for the Goalkeeper, replacing the less-than-mobile Mungo Lifler with promising net-minder Reshar Collifey for the 2007 season. And due to the success of the previous year's tactic, Darigan again faced a string of difficult teams for their regular schedule. Darigan was from the start considered the favourite of the 2007 Altador Cup, maintaining a position at the top of the leader-board for the round robin. In the finals it faced off against Roo Island's team and finally won the Cup on July 9th. However, they also fell to the curse of previous winner Haunted Woods and subsequent winner Roo Island to not be able to reach the standard again, placing seventh the following year and the year after that, although showing promise initially, placing seventh again after a round one loss to Mystery Island.

Coming into Altador Cup V, Darigan Citadel was favourite to win the Cup, so the expectations were high. Even though they were swept by Brightvale on day one, they roared back winning 15 of their next 17 games, soaring to the top of the standings. Ending the season with a record of 23-4-7, they were in 3rd place going into the finals, getting ready to face off against Lost Desert. Though they lost, they were able to beat Roo Island in round two to end the season with the bronze.

Going into Altador Cup VI, many teams were on the watch for the Darigan crew, who were looking for a second win. However, they didn't manage to hold in first tier for long and ended the round-robin in the second tier. Losing to Tyrannia in the first finals round, they defeated Terror Mountain to secure 7th place, the 3rd time they have been in that spot.

Going into Altador Cup VII, with a new style of tournament, there was some question whether or not the team would return to its former glory in Altador Cup II. However, they showed the same determination and power that they had in the early days of the Altador Cup, grabbing a multitude of sweeps. They especially looked strong at the fourth round, pulling off four sweeps in a row against Altador, Tyrannia, Krawk Island, AND Maraqua. However, having faced Kreludor four times and lost all of them (the last of which was a sweep), they were forced back. Despite this weakness, they climbed back up to 4th.

After missing the podium by an inch in the last tournament, Darigan Citadel was determined to make it to the top 3 in Altador Cup VIII, though they quickly discovered the dream to be a little to good to be true. They were swept by Tyrannia and Altador and lost in the brackets from Roo Island and Krawk Island. Consequently, they ended up 5th, dropping one spot compared to last year.

In the Altador Cup IX the Citadel performed strong once again, almost creating a personal sweeping record. Their main opponents weren't the powerhouses of old tournaments, but instead newly risen forces such as Moltara, a reborn Haunted Woods, and Virtupets. This also included the title-defending Tyrannia, who didn't suffer from the alleged "Winners Curse". Reaching the top 3 was proven impossible in the very end, but they did claim the 4th place position in a tie with Tyrannia, making it their third good year in a row in which Team Darigan Citadel conquered the top 5.

Roster

Team positions are as follows (bolded notes the Team Captain):

Year	Goalkeeper	Left Defender	Right Defender	Left Forward	Right Forward
2006	Mungo Lifler	Kep Bonnefie	Tormo "The Terror" Frein	Layton Vickles	Tandrak Shaye
2007	Reshar Collifey
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

Final Standings

Year	Result
2006	2nd
2007	1st
2008	7th
2009	7th
2010	3rd
2011	7th
2012	4th
2013	5th
2014	4th (tie)

Fun Facts

Considering their team's fearsome nature, it may be hard to believe Darigan's players are avid practical jokers. "Frein's the worst one," forward Tandrak Shaye revealed. "He got his nickname, 'The Terror,' long before playing Yooyuball. You learn quick with that one -- if you need something from the kitchen, you'd best take your food with you, or else it will be tampered with. Make no mistake, however -- we're all business out on the field."

Team Darigan Citadel is the only team who has never placed below 7th at any Altador Cup.